Section: Liz Benjamin

Mitt Romney is in Tampa a day earlier than scheduled and just hours before Hurricane Isaac is forecast to hit the Gulf Coast. Roger Stone held court at a steakhouse at the Seminole Hard Rock casino outside Tampa and recalled GOP conventions past. For the record, I have not been to Arianna Huffington’s convention oasis… …

Assemblyman Vito Lopez confirmed rumors that have been running rampant in New York and even here in Florida all day and announced he will not be seeking re-election to his post as Brooklyn Democratic chairman. “The onslaught of character attacks has put enormous emotional pressures on my family and close friends. I cannot sit by… …

Former US Sen. Alfonse D’Amato is expanding the reach of his lobbying firm, Park Strategies, by purchasing the ALbany-based firm Capitol Public Strategies, founded and run by a handful of former Pataki administration aides. A source familiar with the acquisition said D’Amato will make a formal announcement when he speaks to New York’s GOP convention… …

Following Assemblyman Vito Lopez’s censure last week for sexually harassing two female staffers, the New York Times reported Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver had “quietly” settled at least one other complaint against the powerful Brooklyn Democrat, using an undetermined amount of taxpayer dollars to do so. Asked for details about the settlement, the Assembly speaker’s office… …

Assemblyman Vito Lopez’s office just sent out the following statement from the embattled Brooklyn lawmaker, who was censured and stripped of his staff and seniority last week after a bipartisan ethics committee determined he had sexually harassed two female staffers: “The charges made against me are unfair and untrue. Never did I intentionally touch or… …

Flooding, not high wind, is the main concern when Isaac makes landfall. “(E)verybody here has got one eye on this storm and even if you’re from Minnesota and not Mississippi…We’re praying for the best and preparing for the worst,” said Haley Barbour, who was governor of Mississippi when Katrina hit seven years ago. The storm… …

Here’s something I haven’t seen since….oh, the last GOP convention. It’s a Pataki Pass! Veteran New York GOP watchers will recall these. The former governor doled them out to his supporters and donors to provide access to events that he held back when he was still mulling the possibility of his own White House run.… …

Calls are mounting for Assemblyman/Brooklyn Democratic Chairman Vito Lopez to resign following his censure last week by Speaker Sheldon Silver after a bipartisan ethics committee determined he had sexually harassed two young female staffers. Gov. Andrew Cuomo is the latest – and most prominent – Democrat to say (through his spokesman, Josh Vlasto) that it’s… …

Gov. Andrew Cuomo is in New York City with no public schedule. In Albany, anti-fracking advocates are planning “one of the largest actions against fracking in the state’s history” at the Corning Preserve. Day One of the GOP convention has been canceled. The New York delegation is scheduled to hold its breakfast at the Clearwater… …